A Different Life
by Baker Alchemist Strawberry
Summary: Set from Lumina's perspective in a mix between DS and DS Cute, this fic deals with Lumina's crushes, experiences and helping out of Alys, the somewhat less agriculturally inclined sister of the Farm owner, Jack. Romance is to be expected.


Harvest Moon Cute – A Different Life.

_**Author's note; This is going to be a fic set entirely form Lumina's perspective. Chapters will be updated when I get them done. It's a mix between both DS and DS: Cute, so there's both the girl and boy. They're siblings. Most of the other characters will be the same, albeit my own takes on them. I don't own any of the characters, as they belong to Natsume, whom we all worship as the light that brings us these games.**_

_**Well, enjoy. Critique is encouraged, and I would like to know if I've given a good impression of Lumina.**_

_**Oh - A Different Life is just a working title. If anyone has any ideas for a good one, don't hesitate to let me know :)**_

Chapter 1 – A Single Step

"Psst. Lu." A voice floated through my room. "Lu, wake up. "

"Urgh. Grandma, can't I have five minutes for once it's…" I opened my eyes. It wasn't even dawn yet. Looking over at the clock, the illuminated numbers showed 4:00AM. "whaa?"

"Silly, it's not Romana. It's me. Come ooooon. I've been trying to wake you up forever."

I sat up, got out of bed and walked across the rather cold floor to my window. A blonde haired girl was there, with red eyes that shone in the night. She was hovering on a broom at a level to the window. I sighed.

"Princess, it's far, far too early to wake me up. What do you want?" I asked, exasperated with this oddball who lived in my Grandma's shed. She'd moved in when I was about sixteen, so it must have been about three years now. Alys up on the farm probably knows the exact date.

"I need some relax tea leaves for a potion I'm cooking up!" She announced, floating into the room and banging her head on the windowsill. "Ow."

I sighed and went over to my dresser, finding the small box I kept things in. Inside were a few relax tea leaves, ones I'd gotten from Jack, Alys's somewhat harder working brother. I picked a couple up, and handed them to her.

"Here, now can I go back to sleep? And don't come asking for any more. Jack gave them to…" I shut up instantly. Everyone knew the Witch Princess's penchant for meddling in the affairs of the village, and she might have taken the rest of the sentence as ruling to mess around with MY affairs.

"Thanks, Lu. I owe you one." She didn't seem to have noticed that I'd cut my sentence off, thankfully.

"More like twenty. What _are_ you working on, wanting all these things off me at random times?" I rubbed my eyes sleepily. If I was late getting up, Grandma Romana would skin me alive. She was very strict.

"I could show you." She shrugged. "Now?"

"Later. I need my sleep. I've got a busy day ahead tomorrow." I pointed at the window. "Out. I need more sleep." The Witch Princess glowered at me a moment before floating out of the window, banging her head on the windowsill again. I sighed. She didn't seem to get that she was a bit too tall for my window now.

I slipped back into bed and put my head on my pillow. Staring up at the ceiling, I suddenly wondered what kind of bed Jack slept in. His house seemed so small, especially if he was living with his sister. The farm had been their grandfather's, but he'd died years ago. I was very young then, but I remember him being very kind and smiley. Jack had come about four years ago, after it was clear that he wasn't much good in the city. He'd taken to farming like a fish to water, raising crops and nurturing animals. Some said the milk from the farm was the best in the entire country.

The thought made me smile. Then I wondered what Alys had done to be sent out here, to the country. Alys wasn't cut out for the country life. She was too clever, too outgoing. I knew farming bored her endlessly. I knew Jack had often wondered what to do with her. She's settled down to a routine now – she'd do whatever small chores Jack had left for her, and then wander the valley aimlessly. Sometimes she'd wander with Nami. She always looked kind of… wistful, I suppose. I didn't have the courage to talk to her – She scared me a little. Nami's the same. But I wish I could help, because I know Jack worries endlessly about her.

Well, by now, you've probably guessed I have a little crush on Jack. It's nothing more than a girly crush, so I try to ignore it as best I can. He's a good person. I always thought he'd have gone for someone more his age by now, like Muffy or Celia, but he hasn't yet. I think he is probably looking for something different, or thinking it through. After all, marriage is for life.

I was in the middle of a wonderful dream about flowers and the Goddess pond when a scuffling noise woke me up. I sat up in bed and yawned, looking at the clock again. 4:45. Grumbling, I got out of bed.

"It better not be her again." I muttered, and looked outside, but it wasn't. The light on her shed was out, so she must have been asleep, if someone like her even sleeps. A crashing noise sounded downstairs and I froze. _A burglar!_ I thought, holding a hand to my heart and trying to calm it down from beating so furiously. I picked up my dressing gown and belted it tight – it certainly wouldn't be good for a lady to be seen in her nightdress, even if it was more like a sheet at times – but those were grandma's rules, though.

I picked up a box. It wasn't heavy, but it might make someone think twice about attacking me, and walked out of my room. The noise was coming from downstairs, near the piano. I crept down the stairs and what I saw was an odd sight indeed.

A young man was there, with silver hair, dressed in an odd leopard print shirt. He was kind of cute, in a way, but his face was a bit screwed up from trying to open a box containing my jewels, ruining the effect of his face.

I don't remember much about the next two minutes,but I know I ran at him, intending to hit him with the box. Of course, I missed and went sprawling past him, knocking him down in the process and landing on my arm. Fortunately it was only bruised.

"Time to make an exit!" The boy announced, and ran out the door. I stood up, and ran after him, pulling up my nightdress, and ran into his back at the steps to my grandma's house. He was staring at someone in front of him, and I tapped him on the back, and looked him in the eye.

"I'm bringing you in." I said, and made a grab for his arm, but he was too quick for me. He flashed me a dazzling smile. I was startled for just a second, but that was all he needed to run off. I stamped my feet.

"I'll get you!" I shouted. I looked at the person in front of me who he'd stopped for, and noticed that it was Alys, Jack's sister. I gulped, and looked down again.

"Um, hi, Alys." I stammered. She looked at me, a little dazed. "Um, are y-you okay?" She nodded and smiled a little sadly.

"So, that was Phantom Skye, huh?" She asked, and laughed. "Were you hit by his spell, too?" She pulled at a lock of her odd brown hair nervously – she'd somehow managed to get it into a double ponytail with only one clip. I always wanted to ask her how she did it. Then I noticed she was shaking. I looked back at Grandma's house. No doubt Grandma and Sebastian were awake by now. Or if they weren't, I'd get in trouble for being out here in the middle of the night if they found out.

"Um, kind of." I muttered. He _was_ kind of cute, after all. "Um, are you sure y-you're okay? You're shaking."

Alys shook her head. "I could do with a drink." She said. "Griffin's closed up for the night. I don't know why, but I felt compelled to take a walk around the valley, clear my head. Was going to wander up here, see if Princess was awake, before I ran into... him..." She looked dazed a second, then shook her head, clapping it to her forehead. "Jack'll have a go at me tomorrow for going out drinking again." She looked down, sadly. "He always tells me off."

-Oh, I forgot that, Alys did like the alcoholic drinks a little much. She could drink Karen under the table, sometimes. Not often though. It was always sad to see the two of them stumbling off, completely drunk on whatever Griffin had served them. That wasn't always late at night, either. I'd seen them going out at about half nine and wandering a bit.

I looked back at grandma's house again, and thought for a moment. "Um, I can offer you a cup of tea, but that's all I have."

Alys looked up. "Tea would be great. Thank you, Lumina."

A few minutes later, I'd snuck into the kitchen, fetched the tea pot, and was sitting with Alys, having a cup of relax tea at five in the morning. It had been one very, very weird night. Weirder nights have been had, I suppose, but I always remember that night as the first time I actually talked to Alys properly. We talked for hours, and it was about half past seven that Grandma finally came knocking at my door to wake me up.

She looked surprised to find I was already up, but she soon frowned when she saw who was sat at my table, drinking tea and smiling a little. Alys' smile vanished abruptly at Grandma' next words though.

"Why are you fraternising with such a person, Lumina? I had thought that you were better than that. And this early in the morning, gracious!" She sniffed haughtily. Alys stood up, frowning.

"I can see when I'm not welcome." She started to make her way out of the room. I grabbed her arm.

"Alys, don't go. Grandma, last night we had a burglar… That Phantom Skye. He was trying to get into my jewellery box. He didn't take anything, but he managed to get away. Alys got hit by his odd spellbinding ability. I brought her up for a cup of tea to calm her down and bring her to her senses. Why are you judgemental? You always told me not to judge people by their appearance."

Grandma went a little red faced.

"And Grandma, she's not a bad person, so please don't be mad at her, it's my fault, I invited her in." I implored. Grandma turned away.

"I suppose I'll let her off this once. It's bad enough the Witch Princess is around here in her shed, but two troublemakers..." She sighed wearily and walked off. I gulped. If grandma knew I was friends with the Witch Princess, she might just decide I wasn't worth raising, and I'd find myself out of a home. And while it never really felt like home, it was where I lived.

Alys sat back down. She looked a little angry.

"I'm sorry, Alys. Grandma can be so harsh sometimes. But she's a good person, really." I looked down and fiddled with my saucer. The tea had gone cold by now.

"No, it's alright. I get it all the time. You know I do, Lumina." She sighed, drained her cup and stood again. "But I really had better be going, I don't want to overstay my welcome, plus you need to get up properly. Thanks, Lumina."

I rubbed my eyes sleepily and nodded. I wished I'd had more sleep, but there you go. Alys walked out, and I went to the shower, washed and got dressed as usual.

If the night had been that interesting, what would the day be like?


End file.
